After Extended Pre-Christmas Break, Ice Flyers Set For Holiday Rush Of Games And Urgency
By Bill Vilona, Ice Flyers Correspondent
PENSACOLA, FLA. – Christmas arrived early for the Ice Flyers.
A nine-day break between games, following the team’s overtime win Dec. 11 against Huntsville, enabled players to leave town for five days, many of them heading to visit families and friends.
Now, a holiday rush is on. The Ice Flyers will play five games in seven days, beginning Saturday night in a rematch against the Havoc on Star Wars Night at the Pensacola Bay Center.
Extending this stretch even further, the Ice Flyers will ring in the New Year with three games in four days, beginning with a New Year’s Eve game on the road against the Macon Mayhem.
“I have treated this as the Christmas break for our players,” said Ice Flyers head coach Jeremy Gates, following the team’s first practice Wednesday back on the ice to prep for this surge of games. “We made a decision to let the players go home and allow them to spend time with their families, especially now around the holidays, because our schedule really doesn’t allow any breaks going forward the rest of the year.
“This was an opportunity to let our guys live and go see their families. Our guys earned a chance to visit. We’re happy for them. About eight guys stayed back and we set up a little event for them. It was nice.”
As the Ice Flyers hit the one-third point of their season, they have produced one of the best starts in franchise history, which is saying a lot for an organization with four SPHL championships.
Their 13-3-2 (overtime losses) record is two more wins than eight of the other nine teams in the league. With only three regulation-play losses, the Ice Flyers have a .778 record percentage, which is well ahead of anyone else.
And they have done this with a near-complete roster overhaul from recent years.
“It all starts with the group of guys we have,” Gates said. “They have been great. It doesn’t mean we are always the best every night, but when you have guys who care about each other, it makes a difference.”
In taking stock with the Ice Flyers right now, here are three main factors behind the success.
Scoring By Committee
Rookie winger Sam Rhodes, 25, a Virginia native, is the Ice Flyers’ only player among the top 20 scorers in the SPHL. He has nine goals, five assists. But the team has produced the third-most goals (57) in the league.
Seven players have scored three or more goals. Seven also have 10 or more points.
“We don’t want to be a team just focused on being top heavy,” Gates said. “We want to have 11 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies that — no matter who is on the ice — we can play against anyone. That has been our goal from the beginning. We distribute ice time; we have roles for guys when it comes to special teams.
“There are some games when Sam Rhodes has played just 13 minutes because of penalties (and penalty kill situations), but he’s a factor on the power play and he’s a smart hockey player. And as the season goes on, Sam might play more on penalty kills.
Character Matters
When evaluating, recruiting and assembling a roster, Gates and assistant coach Justin Stevens worked in tandem to ensure players bought into their objectives and proper demeanor.
Twelve of the players who have skated for the Ice Flyers in at least one game have been first-year pro players.
“As far as the group of guys go, they are awesome and I have told everyone that,” Gates said. “They truly are. We really don’t have to worry about them taking care of the locker room. That’s the goal with (player) leadership. The guys we have are just good people.
“Justin and I worked extremely hard to prepare our team and (Stevens) has been phenomenal. We are a team along with (team trainer) Bailey (Walker) and (equipment manager) Jim Chesnut. We are all on the same page and we are all prepared. We challenge the guys about being prepared and we show them what it means to be prepared.
“We can do all the work and set them up, and then all the credit goes to them after that. Because they bought in.”
Protect Home Ice
The Ice Flyers are the only team with an unbeaten home record (9-0-1) in regulation play. Their only loss was a 3-2 overtime loss Dec. 6 against Roanoke.
This was a point of emphasis Gates stressed when meeting with ardent Ice Flyers fans in the summer, upon being hired. He knew the team’s recent history of seasons with less-than-stellar home ice records. And he knew the crowd support for the Ice Flyers has rocketed with the overall game experience.
“We have talked to the players about good teams don’t lose at home and good teams don’t lose two in a row,” Gates said. “And if you have that mentality and carry the season with that mentality, then you are a good team.
“There is obviously a comfort level to playing at home where you get to sleep in your own bed, and not to mention you get to live on Pensacola Beach. It is a huge advantage compared to some other places. Cohesively, I think the front office has done just an unbelievable job as far as having such a great atmosphere in the building.
“Our guys love playing in front of these fans and when we go on the road, it’s a scenario we want to improve because we are the enemy everywhere we go.”
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UPCOMING hOME GAMES
Home: Saturday, December 20 Star Wars Night | 7:00PM | Get Tickets
Home: Tuesday, December 23 Ice Flyers Christmas | 7:00PM | Get Tickets
Home: Saturday, December 27 Military Appreciation Night | 7:00PM | Get Tickets
